Monday, October 29, 2012

2. Black Dog

When a stray dog shows up outside, a family panics and assumes the worst: The dog is big and black, so he must be after them.

Soon the family's fear of the dog has become so overblown that the dog has ballooned to size of their house.

So why then is the smallest member of the family running outside to play with him?

In this quirky picture book, family members feed off each other's fear of a stray -- until the youngest member shows them all how ridiculous they're being.

Author-illustrator Levi Pinfold shows how fear is learned (by watching others act afraid), and how it can also be unlearned (if someone has the gumption to face it).

When Mr. Hope wakes up one winter day, he sees a black dog sitting outside the first floor of his house and gasps. At the very same instant, he drops his toast and scrambles to the phone to call the police.

In a frenzy he tells a policeman that there's a dog the size of a tiger outside and asks what he should do. The policeman seems to snicker to himself, then dismissively replies, "Don't go outside."

Oblivious to how docile the dog really looks, Mr. Hope scoops up his youngest daughter Small and hurries upstairs to get farther away from it. (As if this would truly make him safer.)

By the next spread, Mr. Hope's fear has begun to spread through the family and skew what each of the next three members see when they look at the dog.

As his wife and two oldest children look out a window from a higher story of their house, their fear grows and so does the dog. Like a bugaboo, an object of exaggerated fear, he becomes magnified by their imagination.

Elongated color paintings on one side of a spread show the dog blowing up like a Macy's day balloon -- at one point he's so big readers see a big curious eye looking through an upper floor bathroom window.

For emphasis, Pinfold zooms in on each family member's reaction with small sepia toned images that are set among the text. One small square shows a silhouette of a family member looking out the window, while another shows the scale of the dog relative to the house.

Soon this big goofball of a dog is three stories tall and all four family members are huddled under a blanket to save themselves. But where is Small?

Small, the tiniest of them all, has managed to wiggle out from her father's arm and go back to playing. Coloring away, she hadn't noticed that anything was wrong. But now that her family is all bunched together, she realizes something is up and asks what's going on.

Ironically, the four of them are so caught up in their neuroses that they don't think to pull her close and protect her too. Instead they whisper all at once, "We're hiding!"

Small thinks this is the funniest thing she's ever seen and standing astride in her striped long johns, replies, "Oh, you are such sillies." Then she slips on her yellow hooded jacket and opens the front door to see what all the fuss is about.

As she steps outside, her family screams in horror. "The hound will eat you up!," "It'll munch your head," "It'll crunch your bones." Indeed the dog has become quite gigantic from all their fear -- even now as he greets Small, down on all fours with his head tucked low.

Though Small is brave, she must wonder if anything they say is true. Indeed, she looks much less confident than she feels. Next to the dog, Small is as tiny as a candy corn.

Still, Small doesn't hold back. In fact she walks so close to the dog that her feet end up where his fur drapes the ground.

"All right, then," she says, determined to judge the dog for herself. "If you're going to eat me, you'll have to catch me first." Then Small takes off across the snowy hillside as the dog galumphs after her.

Along the way, Small sings a song that convinces her more and more that the dog's really no threat at all.

She tempts the dog across a pond and as he squishes his body under a bridge, she sings aloud that his paws are thick, the ice is thin and as a result, he just might fall in. But he doesn't because he's now just a little bit smaller.

Everywhere they go, Small challenges the dog to be smaller and his body shrinks a bit more. By the time they've run through a playground and back home, the stray's small enough to fit through a cat flap in the front door of her house.

But how does Small know that the dog won't balloon back into a ferocious beast once he's inside? Especially if that's the way her family perceives him?

In this extraordinary, imaginative book, Pinfold shows how fear can feed on itself and distort what's real -- sometimes to ridiculous proportions.

The more the oldest family members worry about the dog, the more irrational their fear becomes and the bigger the dog seems.

The mother thinks he's the size of an elephant, the older daughter Adeline thinks he's as big as tyrannosaurus and by the time the son Maurice sees the dog, the analogies are so overblown, they're silly. Maurice screams that the dog is the size of a Big Jeffy. No one but Maurice know what that means, but readers might remember Big Jeffy from Sesame Street as the shaggy bearded bass player from a monster band.

Pinfold's illustrations are packed with hysterical details. As family members become unhinged, they lose their grip on something in their hands. The father drops toast, the mother, a mug of tea, and so on. Later, they don strainers and pans for helmets and barricade themselves in the living room so the dog can't get to them.

The same hysteria is played out in miniature with the children's toys.

On the floor and chairs, little plastic soldiers, kings and cowboys raise their arms in a show panic. Many seem to be reacting to a green octopus toy, which like the stray dog is bigger than them yet also quite docile-looking (though none of them seem to notice that).

However, some of the plastic toys aren't even looking in the direction of the octopus and seem to be reacting more to the hysteria of the other toys.

Then as if to mirror the growth of the dog, Pinfold moves the octopus from standing on a chair cushion to hanging from a string from the ceiling.

By the time the Hope family has calmed down and reconsidered their fears, so have the plastic toys. At the end of the book in a lamp-lit corner of the house, the octopus joins several other toys on the floor around a pot of tea.

Another clever moment in the book occurs when Small leads the dog into playground of metal elephants and down a trunk that forms a tube slide. Readers will remember that the older sister compared the dog to an elephant. But now the dog is not only much smaller than an elephant, he's also small enough to fit in its trunk. Ha! Take that, you silly.

I loved that Pinfold plays off the black dog bias, conjecture that dark-furred dogs (and cats) are less apt to be adopted at animal shelters, in part because they look more aggressive or dangerous.

This is the kind of book that's so clever and funny and whimsical that you can't imagine anyone not loving it -- or big black dogs.

Book 3 in Sci-Fi Sensation

What I'm Reading!

Put on a Play!

UK Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson has created a website to help teachers make dramas out of picture books! Get tips on finding the right story, making sound effects & more! For details, click here. "Acting is very good for children's self-confidence and for stimulating their imaginations and for many, it can be a great root into books and reading," Donaldson says.

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A Hero Returns!

While vacationing at the beach, a toy action figure and his loyal pet are mistaken for flotsam and carried off to a dolly's sand castle. Will the duo ever do valiant deeds again? Or will they play dress-up forever? Another hilarious adventure starring Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush by Mimi Grey. Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99.

Ocean Poetry

Read a Book. Give a Book.

Put a new book in the hands of child just by reading one! Go to We Give Books, select a children's book to read online, then choose a charity from the list provided. After you read, We Give Books will send the charity a book. It costs you nothing -- only the time it takes to read a book. The project, sponsored by The Pearson Foundation, Penguin and DK, so far has donated 934,682 books!

Celebrate Earth!

A new post every day to Earth Day, April 22..

Sun Valley Receives Novels!

This April, Where the Best Books Are!passed out 20 free copies of Orson Scott Card's award-winning Ender's Game in Colorado's poorest neighborhood as part of World Book Night. World Book Night is an annual worldwide event sponsored by book publishers and sellers, and is aimed at spreading the joy of reading among people who never read or rarely pick up a book. Where the Best Books Are! requested Sun Valley Youth Center as its giveaway location, and was one of tens of thousands of volunteers selected to pass out books.

For a Valentine

A small act of love blooms into a magical gift in this lovely collaboration by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Peter H. Reynolds. Harper, $14.99, all ages.

Read with Me!

A charming collection of stories about a plucky little girl and her best pal Bear. G.P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 3-5.

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For the Love of Books

Bookspeak!Poems about Books. Whimsical collages and type combine with clever rhymes in a wondrous ode to books. In one poem, a character pleads with readers to liberate him; in another, an Index competes with the book cover and Table of Contents for the reader's attention. Laura Purdie Salas (Stampede!) humanizes everything from the middle of story, as it laments that it never gets to go first, to a checked out library book that feels like it's gone on vacation. My favorite: "The Sky is Looming" about a book getting squashed by a head: "I'm buried under cheek and drool / and hair three inches deep. / My reader drifted close, then far, / then gently fell asleep..." Charmingly illustrated by Josee Bisaillon, Clarion, $16.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages.

News You Can Use!

Help Ringgold Reads restock their upper-grade libraries in Georgia after the devastating tornadoes of April 27. Buy a book or make a donation.

Help Uprise Books Project get challenged books into the hands of unprivileged teens. Join the Kickstarter campaign here.

Booktrack releases e-books with soundtracks to help boost readers' imagination and engagement. Watch a sample of The Ugly Ducklinghere.

Got a layover? You have to get this.

Bring along a glue stick and the wait will be bliss. Workman, $16.95, ages 7 and up.

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2011 School in Need

Where the Books Are!has adopted Fairview Elementary School as its first-ever "School in Need" for 2011. As extra books accumulate over the year from reviewing, I'll box them up and bring them over to help fill empty shelves in the school's library and classrooms. If you'd like to join me in helping this wonderful school, please send me a message here.

Quotes from Authors, Books and the Kids Who Love Them

"In my world, everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies." (Dr. Seuss)

"...Very often when crazy people are not actively being crazy, they are less crazy than regular people who are a little bit crazy at all times." (Big Audrey in Daniel Pinkwater's Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl)

"Grown-ups and ants are a lot alike. If they relaxed a little, they'd have a better time." (Bean in Annie Barrows's Ivy & Bean: What's the Big Idea?, Book 7)

"Wishes are slippery things. You have to be very specific or you can get exactly what you wished for and still end up with nothing."(Cynthia Lord's Touch Blue)

"Treat yourself with respect and ignore people who don't treat you with dignity."

(Grandma Penshine in Tracy Trivas's Wish Stealers)

"I will respect the tree and not throw away his pieces."

(Tate Miller, 6-year-old reader, on choosing to erase a misspelled word and correct it, rather than toss the paper and start over.)

"I can read in red. I can read in blue. I can read in pickle color too!"(from Dr. Seuss's I Can Read With My Eyes Shut)

"How do you catch sunbeams to make them work for you?"(from The Kids' Solar Energy Book by Tilly Spetgang and Malcolm Wells)

About Me

Need just the right book?

I'd like to help! Email me your questions and I'll select them to answer in this feature.

Q. I want my 6-year-old to get excited about reading but I'm having a hard time wading through all of the readers, knowing which ones are better than others. Are there some series you'd recommend more highly than others?

A. My three boys have been a great testing ground for early readers, and I can tell you from experience that the books that engaged them the most were funny in a way they could appreciate. Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie Books (Hyperion Books for Children) are brilliant. My youngest laughs out loud as he reads them and gets a charge out of saying sound words like "Oof!" that help break up the new words he's learning. We're also big fans of the Toon Books, including the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor-winning Stinky. Published in a cartoon format, the books are funny, easy-to-read and wonderfully quirky. Other stellar books include Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson Books (Candlewick Press) and the hilarious new Max Spaniel series by David Catrow (Orchard Books).

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Tender Tribute to Sally Ride

Books Not to Miss.

Little Treasures, Endearments from Around the World. Children bat their lashes and giggle in delight, in this sweet ode to terms of affection by Jacqueline K. Ogburn. Illustrator Raschka captures the subtlety of a child's expression -- from a shy glance to a beguiling look -- all with loose, spare brush strokes. Houghton Mifflin, $16.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages.

I Don't Want to Be a Pea! Hugo the hippo wants to be a princess for the Fairy-Tale Fancy Dress Party and tells his best friend Bella the bird that she should be a pea. But that isn't fair. Bella doesn't want to be a little round vegetable, and in no time the two are storming off in opposite directions. Talk about two peas in a pod! Could it be that a few costume alterations could make them both happy? An adorable tale about compromise, written by Ann Bonwill and illustrated by Simon Rickerty. Atheneum, $14.99, ages 2-6, 32 pages.

Heart and Soul. Caldecott winner Kadir Nelson writes like a man who's weathered life and now sits on his porch recalling how things once were, in this marvelous history of the African-American experience. Equally compelling are his portraits: faces etched with hardship, yet glistening with determination. Balzer + Bray, $19.99, ages 9 and up, 108 pages.

Sammy in the Sky. A girl reflects on all the things she loved about her late dog Sammy, then celebrates his life by blowing bubbles into the sky. As the bubbles float up on a breeze, a cloud that looks like Sammy seems to bound across the sky after them. "I love you, Sammy!" she yells to the cloud. "You're still the best hound dog in the whole wide world." A beautiful, reassuring story about coping with a lost pet. By Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barbara Walsh, paintings by Jamie Wyeth, Candlewick, $16.99, ages 4-7, 32pages.

The Green Mother Goose, Saving the World One Rhyme at a Time. Mother Goose favorites are repurposed into catchy green rhymes, in this clever book of whimsical poetry and collages. On one page, Jack Be Nimble turns off the tap; on another, readers chant, "One, Two, We Can Renew." By Jan Peck & David Davis, illustrated by Carin Berger. Sterling, $14.95, ages 4-8, 32 pages.

The Art of Disney Epic Mickey. The creators of the groundbreaking 2010 video game Disney Epic Mickey explore how it came to be, in this lush coffee table book filled with concept art, designs and in-depth analysis of the game. By Austin Grossman, with a foreward by Warren Spector. Disney Editions, $40, all ages, 160 pages.

Tallulah's Tutu. A little girl thinks she can become a great ballerina in just a few classes, but when she doesn't earn her tutu as soon as she'd like, she gives up trying. But will her love of dance call her back to class? By Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, Clarion, $16.99, ages 4 and up, 40 pages.

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes. Beatrice thrives on being perfect until one day she makes a very public mistake, and discovers that it's okay to let go and laugh at herself. By Mark Pett & Gary Rubinstein, illustrated by Mark Pett. Sourcebooks, $14.99, ages 4 and up, 32 pages.

Slightly Invisible, Featuring Charlie and Lola. Charlie and Marv have made an invisibility potion to look for sneaky creatures, and don't want to be bothered by Lola. Only now Lola's friend Soren Lorensen has gulped down most of the potion. Will they need Lola's help after all? Written and illustrated by Lauren Child, Candlewick, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 40 pages.

Tumford the Terrible. Tumford the cat is always getting into mischief and though he feels bad about it, he can't get himself to apologize for his mistakes. Then one day at the fair, Tumford gets into the worst trouble yet and discovers the wondrous effect of saying he's sorry. Written & illustrated by Nancy Tillman. Feiwel & Friends, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 32 pages.

My Name is MinaAnd I Love The Night. Anything Seems Possible At Night When The Rest of The World Has Gone to Sleep. Mina McKee, the quirky, endearing neighbor girl from David Almond's highly acclaimed 2008 debut Skellig, journals about herself and the world around her in this lyrical, intimate prequel. By David Almond. Delacorte Press, $15.99, 272 pages. Read an early review from The Guardian here.

Liesl & Poe: Locked away in the attic with only a sketchbook to keep her company, a lonely girl named Liesl looks to a ghost to help her escape from her cruel stepmother and lay her father's ashes to rest. Little does she know the box containing his ashes has been mixed up with one containing the greatest magic ever known. A tender, beautiful novel by bestselling adult author Lauren Oliver. HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 8-12, 320 pages.

The Apothecary: Janie and Benjamin discover elixirs they never imagined could exist, as they embark on a dangerous quest to save Benjamin's father, a London apothecary, and prevent nuclear disaster. From award-winning adult author Maile Meloy comes a sparkling children's debut in which the extraordinary becomes possible. G. P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 9 and up, 365 pages.

The Son of Neptune: In a camp miles away from where demigods Jason, Piper and Leo inherited a quest to rescue Hera, queen of the gods, a new camper has arrived who appears to be the son of Neptune, god of the sea, in this much-anticipated second book in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus. The story, the second of five, is told alternately by Percy, Frank and Hazel, and takes place about two months after the first book, The Lost Hero. Disney-Hyperion, $19.99, ages 9-12, 544 pages

2002 Classic Returns!

Paul O. Zelinsky's fantastic movable tribute to the nonsense song "This Old Man" will be reissued Sept. 29 with new cover art! Dutton, $20.99, ages 2-7, 8 pages. Read Zelinsky's essay on the making of this amazing book of flaps, tabs and wheels here.

If in Amherst, Mass...

Stop by The Eric Carle Museum, a magical place that showcases picture book art from around the world. The latest exhibition (June 18-Oct 9): the work of author-illustrator Tomi Ungerer, "Chronicler of the Absurd." Among his acclaimed picture books, The Mellops Go Flying (1957), The Three Robbers (1962), Flat Stanley (1964) and Moon Man (1967).

For Little Hands

In Memory of Diana Wynne Jones

The beloved author of Howl's Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci series passed away March 26 in Bristol, England, after a long struggle with cancer. She was 76. Jones will be sorely missed. Read Neil Gaiman's tribute here.

Free App!

Ever roam a bookstore, wondering how you'll pick from all of the children's titles? Download bestselling author James Patterson's free Kids' Book Finder Apphere to help sort through all of the options.

Publisher Giveaways and Offers!

Awesome Adventure! Sweepstakes: Become an Awesome Adventure member at HarperCollins to play free games and be entered for weekly giveaways. Every time you complete a game as a registered member, you'll be automatically entered for a book prize and, in some cases, an IPod Touch or $50 Best Buy gift card as well. Among the books being given away, The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney, Seekers #1: The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter and Freddy! King of Flurb by Peter Hannan. For more details, click here.STACKS Book Club: Sign up here to receive emails from Scholastic's children's book club, STACKS, and be the first to know about Scholastic's newest books, celebrity videos, widgets and games. Those who sign up will also be eligible to win monthly sweepstakes.